This week is National Missing Persons Week. It is a time to raise awareness, honour those who are still missing, and stand with the families left behind. For most people, it might pass quietly. But for others, it is a painful reminder that someone they love left one day and never came home.
Here in the Clarence Valley, that pain lives in Yamba, Maclean, Grafton, Iluka, Wooli, and the small communities in between. Every year more than 38,000 people are reported missing in Australia. Most are found within days, but over 2,600 remain missing long-term. That means thousands of families are living in limbo, holding onto hope without answers.
To support these families, the Australian Federal Police runs the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre. This national agency works with police around the country to raise awareness, maintain national records, and help families share their loved ones’ stories. They also lead the national Missing Persons Week campaign, reminding us that behind every case is a real person who is loved and missed.
In the Clarence Valley region, these names remain etched in the hearts of their families and communities.
Click on each person's name for more about them.
David Johnston, aged 81, was last seen on 18 March 2025. CCTV footage captured him at Halfway Creek service station, heading west in a grey Nissan Qashqai. He had left Sydney to visit family but never arrived. His age and medical history make this case especially concerning.
Daniel Copeland, 40, was last seen on 3 September 2023. He was in Maclean that morning and later in Wooli, driving a silver Mitsubishi Lancer. Despite major land, air, and sea searches under Strike Force Illfracombe, no trace has been found.
Jasmine Morris, 19, was last seen in Grafton on 6 February 2012. She was known to frequent the Grafton and Lismore areas, but has not been seen or heard from since. She was only a teenager when she disappeared.
Gerardus Bakkenhoven, 79, was last seen in South Grafton on 23 July 2013. He left home unexpectedly and has not been located, despite appeals and local searches.
Leslie Wayne Keating, 50, was last seen in the South Grafton area on 9 December 2016. He had been staying locally and has not been in contact with anyone since that date.
John Ray Green, 47, was last seen in the Grafton area on 20 January 2017. He has not contacted family since and is considered a long-term missing person.
These names are more than entries on a list. They are fathers, daughters, neighbours, and friends. This year’s Missing Persons Week theme, Missing but not forgotten, reminds us that their stories still matter, and so do the people who are still searching for them.
The National Missing Persons Coordination Centre continues to make sure these cases remain visible. They support families, coordinate national records, and help ensure these people are never forgotten by the communities they belonged to.
If you know anything at all, please speak up. Even the smallest detail might help. You can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or visit www.missingpersons.gov.au to report information, view profiles, or access support.
To the families of the missing in the Clarence Valley, your loved ones are not forgotten. We see you. We stand with you. And we will keep hoping with you.
Let us keep saying their names. Let us keep telling their stories. Let us never give up.
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